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See which Mississippi high school earned the highest ranking from U.S. News list

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See which Mississippi high school earned the highest ranking from U.S. News list


For the second year in a row, Madison Central High School in Madison County ranked within the top 10 on the U.S. News Best High Schools list for the state of Mississippi.

The list studied data from nearly 18,000 public high schools in the nation, including traditional, magnet and charter public schools. The rankings are based on six different factors including graduation rate, college readiness and state assessment scores.

Nationally, the highest ranked Mississippi school is Ocean Springs High School, which earned a No. 682 national ranking.

Ocean Springs High School is the only Mississippi school in 2024 to break 1,000 on the rankings list. The next highest school, Lewisburg High School in Olive Branch, ranked 1,464.

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Several other southern states broke the top 100 nationally. Alabama had one school at No. 21 nationally; Louisiana had one school at No. 49 and one school at No. 89; Tennessee had one school at No. 19 and one school at No. 48; Georgia had one school at No. 9.

The Mississippi coastal schools won out this year, earning five spots out of the state’s top 10.

Madison Central High makes top 10

Madison Central High ranked 10 on the 2024 list, the only Jackson Metro area school to break the top 10 in best high schools in Mississippi.

This ranking falls short of last year’s ranking by one; Madison Central held ninth place on the 2023 list.

In comparison to neighboring public schools, Madison Central earned first place in the Jackson Metro area.

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Overall, Madison Central High School ranked No. 2,926 in the nation out of the nearly 18,000 ranked.

No Jackson Public Schools broke the top 10 for the Jackson Metro area.

The top 10 public high schools in Mississippi for the U.S. News 2024 list, in order from first place to 10th, are as follows:

  1. Ocean Springs High School, Ocean Springs School District, No. 682 nationally
  2. Lewisburg High School, Desoto County School District, No. 1,464 nationally
  3. Hernando High School, Desoto County School District, No. 1,964 nationally
  4. Pass Christian High School, Pass Christian Public School District, No. 2,028 nationally
  5. Raleigh High School, Smith County School District, No. 2,034 nationally
  6. Petal High School, Petal School District, No. 2,346 nationally
  7. West Harrison High School, Harrison County School District, No. 2,678 nationally
  8. Biloxi High School, Biloxi Public School District, No. 2,789 nationally
  9. Long Beach Senior High School, Long Beach School District, No. 2,906 nationally
  10. Madison Central High School, Madison County School District, No. 2,926 nationally

Compare to last year: See how Jackson area and state schools ranked in U.S. News and World Report rankings

Top 10 high schools in the Jackson Metro

The Jackson Metro area refers to the capital city and its surrounding counties, including Hinds, Madison, Rankin and Copiah among others.

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Here are the top 10 schools in the Jackson Metro area, according to the U.S. News 2024 list, in order from first place to 10th:

  1. Madison Central High School, Madison County School District, No. 10 in state, No. 2,926 nationally
  2. Germantown High School, Madison County School District, No. 14 in state, No. 3,658 nationally
  3. Brandon High School, Rankin County School District, No. 30 in state, No. 5,140 nationally
  4. Clinton High School, Clinton Public School District, No. 32 in state, No. 5,337 nationally
  5. Raymond High School, Hinds County School District, No. 37 in state, No. 5,885 nationally
  6. Pearl High School, Pearl Public School District, No. 38 in state, No. 5,923 nationally
  7. Northwest Rankin High School, Rankin County School District, No. 45 in state, No. 6,385 nationally
  8. Terry High School, Hinds County School District, No. 72 in state, No. 8,527 nationally
  9. McLaurin Attendance Center, Rankin County School District, No. 77 in state, No. 8,759 nationally
  10. Wesson Attendance Center, Copiah County School District, No. 79 in state, No. 8,779 nationally

More in education news: Belhaven is first MS university to pair with Amazon for new curriculum. Read details here

Top high schools by district

Here are some top public schools in Jackson and Madison County by school district.

Jackson Public School District:

Some schools within the Jackson Public School District received a ranking between two values rather than a specific number placing.

  1. Murrah High School, No. 104 in state, No. 10,321 nationally
  2. Callaway High School, No. 106 in state, No. 10,354 nationally
  3. Jim Hill High School, No. 118 in state, No. 10,854 nationally
  4. Forest Hill High School, No. 142-229 in state, No. 13,242-17655 nationally
  5. Lanier High School, No. 142-229 in state, No. 13,242-17655 nationally
  6. Provine High School, No. 142-229 in state, No. 13,242-17655 nationally
  7. Wingfield High School, No. 142-229 in state, No. 13,242-17655 nationally

In Dec. 2023, the Jackson Public School District voted to permanently close Wingfield High School, along with 10 other schools, when the current school year concludes.

More on Wingfield’s closure: Wingfield football coach, players describe the pain of learning of their school’s closing

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Madison County School District:

  1. Madison Central High School, No. 10 in state, No. 2,926 nationally
  2. Germantown High School, No. 14 in state, No. 3,658 nationally
  3. Ridgeland High School, No. 83 in state, No. 9,043 nationally
  4. Velma Jackson High School, No. 117 in state, No. 10,847 nationally

Hattiesburg and its surrounding districts:

Lamar County School District, which covers schools in Hattiesburg and surrounding cities, had four schools ranked as follows:

  • Oak Grove High School, No. 15 in state, No. 3,667 nationally
  • Sumrall High School, No. 46 in state, No. 6,427 nationally
  • Lumberton High School, No. 99 in state, No. 9,959 nationally
  • Purvis High School, No. 109 in state, No. 10,491 nationally

The only Hattiesburg Public School District school ranked by the U.S. News for 2024 is Hattiesburg High School, which came in at No. 53 in the state and No. 6,828 nationally.

Forrest County School District also had one school ranked. North Forrest High School ranked No. 66 in the state and No. 7,949 nationally.

Neighboring district Petal School District also had only one school ranked, Petal High School, which earned 6th place in the state’s top 10 and ranked No. 2,346 nationally.

Got a news tip? Contact Mary Boyte at mboyte@jackson.gannett.com

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Mississippi

Watch: Residents escape wrath of tornado in Columbia, Mississippi

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Watch: Residents escape wrath of tornado in Columbia, Mississippi


COLUMBIA, Miss. – A late afternoon tornado struck the town of Columbia, Mississippi, on Wednesday, as residents snapped videos of the twister while it quickly moved through the southern portion of the state. 

Many of the town’s approximately 5,000 residents had a front row seat to the twister and captured the powerful event on their cell phones.

In the videos, debris can be seen being thrown into the air as the tornado touched down in mixed-use areas of Columbia.

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“You’re looking back toward between Broad Street and Church Street around East Avenue,” two-term mayor Justin McKenzie could be heard telling viewers on Facebook and those standing by his side. “Law enforcement now is reporting that there is some kind of debris in the tornado. Boy, that’s not a huge one, but I gather it has dropped down after entering into the town.”

DANGEROUS SEVERE WEATHER SWEEPS ACROSS SOUTH FROM MONSTER WINTER STORM, SPAWNING TORNADOES

Cody Stevens was one of the many of the local residents who was out and about on what felt like a warm spring day before the storms moved through.

“Just narrowly avoided a tornado right outside Columbia, MS. I’m going go change my underwear now,” Stevens stated after coming face-to-face with the twister.

According to local officials, several businesses and homes were damaged, but fortunately, no significant injuries were reported in the immediate aftermath after the storm.

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The town’s police and emergency management teams conducted a survey of the area, while power crews worked to restore electricity to more than 100 customers in the affected region.

The tornado occurred on what was considered to be an Enhanced Risk day by the Storm Prediction Center across several southern states. 

Communities in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama were placed under a Tornado Watches through the late evening due to the threat of rotating supercells.

HOW ARE TORNADOES RATED? THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE EXPLAINED

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A particularly dangerous Tornado Warning was issued for communities around Thomasville, Alabama, where radar detected significant debris lofted more than 15,000 feet in the air.

Following the storm, scattered power outages were reported and photos from the Coffeeville area, north of Mobile, showed several trees and power lines down.

Authorities will likely need the help of sunlight to continue their assessments to determine the full extent of the damage in Alabama.

Despite the widespread storm threat zone, there were less than a handful of reports of confirmed tornadoes through Wednesday evening, during what has been a down year for tornadic activity across the country as a whole.

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What ‘shocked’ Chris Jans of Mississippi State basketball’s second half collapse vs Florida

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What ‘shocked’ Chris Jans of Mississippi State basketball’s second half collapse vs Florida


STARKVILLE — Chris Jans said vibes were strong in Mississippi State basketball’s locker room at halftime. 

There was a sense of normalcy by all accounts. If anything, the Bulldogs coach said they were disappointed they didn’t lead No. 3 Florida by more than one point.

Immediately after that was one of the worst stretches MSU has played all season. The Gators scored the first 17 points of the second half and computed a 25-4 run over six minutes, 41 seconds, flipping MSU’s one-point lead into a 20-point deficit. Florida (21-3, 8-3 SEC) won 81-68 on Tuesday night despite one starter not playing and another, Alex Condon, exiting the game with an injury 30 seconds in. 

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“I just was shocked that that’s how we were playing,” Jans said. “We just didn’t have the type of urgency and fight that we showed the majority in the first half from where I sat.”

It dropped Mississippi State (17-7, 5-6) to 3-6 in the last nine games. The Bulldogs have also trailed by at least 20 points in consecutive games at Humphrey Coliseum. 

What went wrong for Mississippi State in the second half

Mississippi State missed its first three shots of the second half, but that wasn’t necessarily the issue. It only attempted three shots in the first five minutes of the half because of turnovers. 

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The Bulldogs turned the ball over six times during Florida’s 17-0 run. Three of them were credited to forward KeShawn Murphy.

“Basically, they just came out more hungry than we did,” Murphy said, who scored 18 points with 13 rebounds. “We started out flat, got down on ourselves for some reason, and it shows.”

Jans called a timeout with 16:32 remaining and Florida’s run at 9-0. He then had to call another timeout with one minute, 23 seconds later when Florida quickly scored eight more points.

“I just didn’t expect it,” Jans said. “In the first half, we were frustrated with ourselves offensively. I thought we set the tone and had a good defensive first half. We rebounded the ball very well in the first half, and that was a big goal for us. 

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“And for whatever reason, we were just out of sync in terms of all five guys when we’re going into defense to offense and what we’re trying to run and what we’re trying to do. We just weren’t all where we needed to be every time. It wasn’t one guy. It was just one time it was this guy; one time it was the next guy. It was frustrating for us because we just didn’t feel like we were giving ourselves the best chance to take advantage of what we were trying to do against their defense.”

Mississippi State lost again to a top team

The loss dropped Mississippi State to 0-5 against top 10 teams this season, all of which have come in SEC play.

“I feel like early on in the season, we played our basketball and stuck together,” Murphy said. “Now it’s just like when things get hard, we break into pieces a little bit. We got to stick to what we know and who we’ve been. We got to find our identity and we’re losing that a little bit.”

Mississippi State only has one regular-season game remaining against a top 10 team on Feb. 25 at Alabama. Four of the remaining seven regular-season games are against unranked opponents. 

“I’m certainly concerned,” Jans said. “I’m a little shocked because we had a great practice yesterday. We were coming off a very tough, well-earned road victory. The vibe was really, really good. Shootaround was one of the better ones we’ve had. They were excited. Togetherness was showing.”

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Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.



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Chaffin shines as No. 24 Mississippi State goes 4-1 at NFCA Leadoff Classic

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Chaffin shines as No. 24 Mississippi State goes 4-1 at NFCA Leadoff Classic


Just a few months ago, Raelin Chaffin was undergoing treatment for thyroid cancer shortly after transferring to Mississippi State from LSU. But she was at the top of her game in her first weekend as a Bulldog, helping No. 24 MSU win four of five games at the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Clearwater, Florida.

In the season opener Friday against No. 13 Texas Tech, Chaffin emerged victorious in an eight-inning pitchers’ duel with NiJaree Canady, the best pitcher in the country last year. Canady struck out 12 Bulldogs and issued just one walk, but Chaffin matched her out for out until MSU broke through in extras.

Outfielders Kiarra Sells and Sierra Sacco each hit RBI singles in the eighth and Morgan Bernardini hit a sacrifice fly to break a scoreless tie and put the Bulldogs ahead by three. Chaffin issued two walks and hit a batter in the bottom of the inning to load the bases, but closed out the 3-1 victory on a foul pop-up to shortstop Kylee Edwards.

“Raelin’s performance was awesome. I’m so excited for her. We knew bringing her in that there was just a little something in her, just that competitive edge. She just still wanted to prove herself in her last season,” MSU head coach Samantha Ricketts said. “There was no doubt that we were letting her finish that game. She’d earned the right, and she was doing a great job of competing. She was confident.”

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The Bulldogs lost 8-0 in five innings later Friday to No. 7 Duke as both junior Josey Marron and senior Lexi Sosa struggled in the pitchers’ circle, with the Blue Devils scoring in every inning. MSU then made five errors and struggled to get the bats going against Bethune-Cookman on Saturday, but woke up just in time.

Bernardini led off the bottom of the seventh with a single, and Sacco drove her in with one out to tie the game. With two outs, Sells singled to left field to bring home Sacco and give the Bulldogs a 3-2 win. Chaffin, who relieved Marron in the sixth, earned her second win of the weekend.

“I was super confident that any ball that was coming my way, I was going to hit it,” said Sells, a junior who had played sparingly prior to this season and had not recorded a hit with MSU before this weekend. “That was kind of my mindset.”

Sacco and the offense remained hot in Saturday’s second game against Penn State. Sosa’s RBI single and Edwards’ two-run double gave the Bulldogs a three-run lead in the first inning, and Sacco added on with run-scoring doubles in the second and the sixth.

Her three doubles in the game set a school record and helped make life easy for Chaffin, who tossed six shutout innings before freshman Sara Phillips closed out the 6-1 win in her first collegiate appearance.

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“For me, it’s just about getting a barrel on it and just getting a good swing off,” Sacco said. “Whether it turns out to be a double, single, triple, it doesn’t really make a difference to me as long as I’m on base for my next teammate that will get me in.”

Chaffin — who was named SEC Pitcher of the Week on Monday — concluded her stellar weekend Sunday with a complete-game shutout against No. 19 Nebraska, striking out six without issuing a walk. Sacco cleared the bases with a two-out, three-run double in the second for all the runs Chaffin needed in a 3-0 victory.

MSU (4-1) will open Nusz Park for the 2025 season this coming weekend with The Snowman: Alex Wilcox Memorial tournament — named in honor of former outfielder Alex Wilcox, who died from ovarian cancer following her freshman year in 2018. The Bulldogs will play Southern Illinois, North Texas, Bradley and Georgia Tech.

“I didn’t have a whole lot to show in the fall, but the whole time (the coaching staff) just kept reinforcing that they brought me here for a reason,” Chaffin said. “Just carrying that out to the field and knowing that they want me here, they have confidence in me and they’re going to let me get whatever I’ve got to get out and keep me in the game and let me ride.”

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